NL Notes: Mets, Colon, Phillies, Giants

With the 39-46 Mets well out of the playoff picture, Mike Puma of the New York Post looks ahead to what could be an offseason of upheaval for the club. In addition to having a slew of veterans set for free agency over the winter, general manager Sandy Alderson and manager Terry Collins are also on expiring contracts. Given the way the Mets’ season has gone, it’s possible owner Fred Wilpon will nudge the soon-to-be 70-year-old Alderson toward retirement, per Puma. Regardless of whether Alderson or someone else is their GM, Puma expects the majority of the Mets’ offseason attention to go to their bullpen. Meanwhile, they probably won’t re-up either first baseman Lucas Duda or outfielder Jay Bruce over the winter (if they’re not already gone by the July 31 deadline, of course), relays Puma, who writes that the latter is likely to seek a four-year contract on the open market. It’s certainly debatable whether the 30-year-old Bruce would be worth that type of commitment, but he has made a case for it this season with a .265/.334/.539 line and 23 home runs over 353 plate appearances.

More from New York and two other National League cities:

Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said Friday that first basemen Tommy Joseph and Rhys Hoskins “can’t coexist on the same team,” and GM Matt Klentak implied the same on Saturday. Asked if the Phillies have considered using one of the two in left field, Klentak told reporters, including Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer: “We haven’t tried that, so you wouldn’t know until you tried it. But there’s a reason both of them are playing first base right now.” With only one position available for the two of them and Hoskins currently running roughshod over Triple-A pitching, Joseph could be the odd man out by the deadline. The 25-year-old’s trade value likely isn’t high, suggests Gelb, who posits that Philadelphia could package him with a rental in order to extract more value in a deal.

The Mets believe Bartolo Colon chose to sign with Minnesota over returning to New York because they wouldn’t have been able to guarantee him a rotation spot for the rest of the season, according to Puma. A starting job is particularly important to the 44-year-old right-hander because he’s vying to become the winningest Dominican-born pitcher of all-time, notes Puma. With 235 victories, Colon is eight away from tying Hall of Famer Juan Marichal.

Giants outfielder Austin Slater suffered a torn adductor muscle in his right hip Friday and will miss two to three months, likely keeping him out for the rest of the season, reports Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. The 24-year-old Slater began his major league career in promising fashion between his early June promotion and the injury, hitting .290/.343/.430 in 108 PAs.

Finally a writer who tells it like it is on Joseph “25 year olds trade value likely isn’t high”. The crazy packages I’ve seen in these threads for him and Brad Hand are funny to say the least,of course other teams fans want high returns. The Yanks are playing with house money in this surprisingly successful season,and don’t need to do much. Starting next season is where the chips will start to fall together.

Marichal swung a bat at another player, ill take any roider over that scumbag trash.

Btw roids dont do anything other than prevent injury – if Griffey used them wed all have gotten to see more of him when he was on the Reds. But sure, keep breastfeeding whatever those trolls at espn tell you what to think is good and bad.

Marichal didn’t “swing a bat” at another player; he actually hit Roseboro in the head at least 5 times. Thankfully Roseboro’s helmet was still on. Marichal could have very easily ended Roseboro’s career, or worse. Taking testosterone, as Colon once did, didn’t really hurt anyone else.

Steroids let you heal faster and get stronger with a smaller window of fatigue. Injuries and fatigue are what separate great players from other greater players. Downplaying the monumental effect of being able to get stronger without getting tired while another guy CANNOT is asinine when you consider that baseball is a marathon sport. With every post you make, your ego is on parade, but you arguments lack substance. “Omg steroids aren’t even that bad bro” Do you realize how dumb you sound to baseball enthusiasts?

Wtf are you on to make a statement like that”Roids don’t do anything other then prevent injury” even though that is the most delusional statement I’ve ever read on here..I don’t have the patience to respond to it’s ridiculousness.

You may want to a)clarify whay you mean by “steroids” and b) read about them. Steroids allow faster recovery, and, when combined with vigorous workouts, allow for quicker muscle growth. You don’t just take anabolic steroids and get strong all of a sudden. They enhance workouts.

But we’re talking about Bartolo Colon, who was busted for testosterone, which is quite a bit different than anabolic steroids.

Juan “Bean Ball” Marichal? I take a guy who took testosterone once over a guy who hit guys in the head with pitches over and over and then took a bat into a fight on the field. He was the epitome of a scum bag.

Resigning Bruce is not a terrible idea but the mets will not improve if they don’t add some hitters who can get on base to go with him. I swear it feels like most of their home runs this year are solo shots

Right on Casey. Too bad the Mets fan regulars here have all but retreated out of embarrassment to read what you wrote. Instead up until recently they were defending the Mets’ organization, management and ownership and taking issue when I have posted that “TC’ and Alderson should be fired by a new owner. I’ve been urging them to stop supporting the Mets financially, so that they make it uncomfortable for the Wilpons.

I can see Steve Phillips returning to the front office and adding Bobby Bonilla to the bench. That would be classic Wilson. I’m a Phillies fan, but I truly feel for the Mets fans as they have been abused.

How about Aaron Altherr to the Dodgers for Alex Verdugo and Walker Buehler?

Aaron Altherr has broken out into his prime. He has four years of additional control after this season and he can play all three outfield positions well. You can start Altherr in CF and feel good about it.

Ok what’s the difference cheating is cheating. Yes these guys get some advantage in using PEDS but is it any different than when the old we guys using a spit ball or putting substances on their uniforms. a corked bat. it kinda like the shifts people complain basically hit the ball the other way. either way the cheaters are still getting what they want. they are being remember and talked about. Plus who is to say one bad test isn’t someone setting up someone so another player gets their chance. Crap now I can’t remember where I was going with this

Steroids I mean since the days of the babe and mick aaron Winfield there has been something. Beer muscles cocaine winstrols (horse steroid made popular in sports in the 50,s that’s make u lean and faster and stronger) all this has been used and been around the game so I ask u give Ronny Coleman or jay cutler two proven huge steroid heads with biceps as big as people’s legs lol give them a bat and see if they hit it out of the kiddie park at 65 mph. THEY WILL NOT do steroids don’t hit a ball hand eye speed does not a needle. Do I agree with them no but does it make Sammy Sosa hit the ball over the fence no!!!!!!

It makes fly balls a HR, it enables players to recover quicker and easier, it takes that grind if a season and negates it allowing the users to fight through a season easier. When a clown like Colon cheats the system so many times and ways over the years it’s a joke.

Because he’s such a pathetic looking excuse for a professional athlete people can’t help but laugh but then feel sorry for the fat slob. Look at the feel good story of last season when this fat sack of shiznit hit his first dinger.

And yet once again, PEDs, banned surgeries and the lying about his age, but then again you knew that already. And just because a guy tests positive once doesn’t mean he only used once, you don’t wake up one morning at the end of a career and decide to use PEDs.

actually, i think thats exactly when most players start using them. when they see their grasp on their starting position start to fall or their inability to recover from their injuries they then decide the risk is worth the reward

I think I haven’t explained myself enough and for that I apologize for not being clearer. Yes PEDS are cheating but put it in the right perspective as far as the cheating part is it the end of the world should they be tar and feathered no. The people that make it sound like a sin are the same ones that loved the live ball era. They loved the battle between Sosa and McGuire with the homerun crown. Let’s put this straight we should hate the stuff for what it does to the people lives and there families. I’m guessing the Ken Caminitis family feels robbed of him and frankly doesn t care about the magnitude that people put on stats

Most PEDs can and are prescribed by doctors. A lot of players who have been suspended are suspended for OTC drugs that contain substances on the “banned” list. It’s still fair; a guy should know what he’s putting in his body, but a lot of what we call “steroids” are part of nebulous treatments for all kinds of things, from asthma to cancer.

Cocaine is what killed Caminiti, yes, but he was also abusing steroids and especially alcohol heavily at the end of his life. He had also, quite famously, gotten sober during his career, then slipped back into his bad habits as the career was ending.

Rhys Hoskins is hitting .289 right now. That is not “running roughshod”. Not even top 25 in the International league or top 60 in AAA. He has 20 HR, but that is not even the best in AAA.
Oswaldo Arcia, Derek Fisher, Christian Arroyo; now those guys are running roughshod on AAA pitching.